I bought the game retail so this first month I have been a subscriber. I am enjoying the game but now that the first month is up I need to decide whether to go FTP or sub again. Can someone either tell me exactly what subs get that FTP players dont or at least point me to a listing somewhere that will tell me this?

Here ya go!

 

http://www.swtor.com/free/features

http://www.swtor.com/free

Note that as a former sub, you'll be classified as Preferred, not Free. So keep that in mind when comparing stuff. Edited February 22, 2013 by FizzwickNuffaa

Subscribers get "everything is available and unrestricted", and preferred accounts have some relatively heavy limits on what they can do and how often, number of characters, number of hotbars, GTN market, etc.

 

Subscribers also get 500 free cartel coins per month, which (because there's no need to spend on weekly passes, loot unlocks, etc) are usually spent on maximized inventory space on all characters, ship upgrades, legacy race unlocks, or the items (color crystals, pets, whatever). If it takes you a few months to level up one character to 50, you're likely to have max cargo space on all other characters, GTN and email access from your ship on all other characters, and other nice things like that.

 

Also keep in mind that a lot of the cartel coin items may be on the GTN, sold by other players who have too many of them. For example, adaptive speeders (can go all the way to speed rank 3) for 5000 credits, which is cheaper than the 8000 credits that the NPC will charge your for the newbie speeder at level 15.

Edited February 22, 2013 by Merouk
additional info

One main difference (for me) is the fact that subs have rested XP anywhere and FTP or prefered do not. That makes leveling a FTP toon a lot more time consuming that a sub toon. If you don't mind grinding a lot, you may be OK with it.

As FTP you:

• can not use artefact gear
  
• have less inventory space
  
• only 2 crew skill slots
  
• have to pay more planetary comms for gear/mods
  
• get less money or XP
  
• just don't give you some quest rewards
  

 

If you can live with all those, FTP is actually playable quite well. Of course all those limitations can be overcome by buying unlocks for it with cartel coins, but then you could also sub.

Edited February 24, 2013 by mike_is_valid
tyupo

Lol I thought I'd see what preferred was like and quickly subbed again haha. The fact I could only have 2 crew skills, no titles, and limited access to fps and medi probes was worse than dying haha.

Unless you need the cash to avert the fiinal throes of starvation, keep the sub.

buy all the inventory upgrades you can with credits - you won't be able to expand your bank or your personal inventory unless you use a Cartel unlock once your sub ends. (if you have more cash than the cap you need to spend it on something anyway).

 

I suppose the biggest problem Ive seen is the cap on Commendations. Commendation gear costs more for non paying customers and the cap is low. My experience (with Drommond Kaas) a cap of 20 Commendations, and a piece of gear costs 15 (vs 12 for a subbed player). Armors/mods/hilts/barrels etc cost the same 7 and 2 comms, but you still have a 20 comm limit. Bit on the frustrating side.

 

It will also cost you more to do things - pull mods, travel, etc - so with a credit limit you might have to think about stuff.

 

Flash points, PvP warzones, Operations are limited; you gain less Reputation from Rep items and Experience from kills and quests than a paying Subscriber does.

 

I'd try it for a bit and see what you can tolerate - Preferred has access to some decent stuff (yay 4 quickbars) - you might find that its liveable.

One other thing is the pilot training. I know the first one for subs you can get at 15 for only a few hundred credits. But for F2P (and I assume preferred?) it's 35K at level 25 (like it was pre-F2P for subs..).

 

Not sure if that would sway anyone, but that would certainly make me stop and consider it if I wasn't a sub and didn't have a lvl 50 to supply my alts with credits. =)

One other thing is the pilot training. I know the first one for subs you can get at 15 for only a few hundred credits. But for F2P (and I assume preferred?) it's 35K at level 25 (like it was pre-F2P for subs..).

 

Not sure if that would sway anyone, but that would certainly make me stop and consider it if I wasn't a sub and didn't have a lvl 50 to supply my alts with credits. =)

 

My question - what happens if you're, say, level 17 with the speeder pilot skill bought and used, and your sub ends - do you loose the skill and have to re-buy it at 25 (since you're preferred now)?

 

Also, as someone who likes to vary between ftp/subbing, I'm always looking to see what's the best way to do so. While the Swtor model is a bit harsh on ftp/prefs, the ability to purchase many of the unlocks on the GNT using in-game currency is a HUGE bonus - something I didn't see mentioned at all when I was researching this game prior to playing it (and something that's a total incentive/motivator for me in the game). Which I thought was odd, since this was never possible with other FTP games I have experience with (mostly Turbine ones; DDO and Lotro) .

the ability to purchase many of the unlocks on the GNT using in-game currency is a HUGE bonus - something I didn't see mentioned at all when I was researching this game prior to playing it (and something that's a total incentive/motivator for me in the game).

My fiancee is a VERY casual player of this game, I am not. We pay for a six month sub for me (for the 600 points/month) then use those points and in-game money to keep her supplied with the goods and upgrades she needs .

One main difference (for me) is the fact that subs have rested XP anywhere and FTP or prefered do not. That makes leveling a FTP toon a lot more time consuming that a sub toon. If you don't mind grinding a lot, you may be OK with it.

As FTP you:

[*]can not use artefact gear

 

Wait...so the purple earpiece I crafted for the F2P player I grouped with last night and sent to him as a thank you for being good company...he won't be able to equip?

Wait...so the purple earpiece I crafted for the F2P player I grouped with last night and sent to him as a thank you for being good company...he won't be able to equip?

 

No he will not unless he bought the auhorization for it